1842 Treaty territory in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, approximately 70 miles <west> from the L'Anse Reservation and 45 miles <southwest> from the Ontonagon Reservation.

Metals: Copper, silver

Type of Mine: underground - room and pillar; located about 800 feet below the surface and would extend mining to within 200 feet of Lake Superior (although the deposit itself dips beneath Lake Superior)

Estimated production life, once open: about 14 years

Environmental and Other Concerns:

Proximity and impacts to Lake Superior, including pristine shoreline habitat

Water discharges into Nabeminag Creek of Lake Superior

Subsidence of the surface above the mine and potential associated hydrological impacts

Scale and characteristic of a permanent tailings basin on the surface which would fill over 16,000 feet of streams and about 60 acres of wetlands, with potential to leach heavy metals and other contaminants for centuries)

Least environmentally impactful alternatives are not being taken due to cost savings (i.e. backfilling tailings and eliminating subsidence

Dispersed chalcocite in the deposit, a copper sulfide mineral that is not exempt from the risks of acid mine drainage

Status:

Highland started exploratory drilling in the Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park in February, 2017. The exploratory drilling, into Precambrian aged bedrock, will be used by Highland to refine their Copperwood mining program. While the State of Michigan owns the surface land rights, managed by the DNR, Highland owns the subsurface mineral rights.